The November Meteor-Shower at Glasgow. 465 



the surrounding regions, at all distances from the point of 

 radiation of the shower. 



For the use of directing a telescope towards its place on 

 the morning of the 14th of November next, a future page will 

 be taken up with a list of twelve places of the radiant-point 

 obtained by observers at Glasgow, and at other places in the 

 " Great November shower" of 1866 ; together with the heights 

 and distances from the earth of some of the larger meteors so 

 favourably observed at Glasgow in that shower, and, fortunately, 

 also at the same time at other places. 



The following is the extract of a letter, to which reference 

 was made above. For this, as it contains valuable notes on 

 the spectra of the meteoric bodies, the reader of the paper 

 is indebted to the successful endeavours, which characterize the 

 use of the spectroscope, in every observation to which it has 

 been applied by Mr. John Browning, F.R.A.S. : — 



u ON THE SPECTRA OE SOME OP THE METEORS OE THE NOVEMBER 

 SHOWER IN 1866. BY JOHN BROWNING, E.R.A.S. 



" On the night of the 13th of November, I chose for my 

 place of observation the Observatory of Mr. Barnes at Upper 

 Holloway, which is situated on the highest ground in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of the observatory. 



I began observing at 9h. 30m. p.m., and continued my 

 observations until 4h. a.m., on the morning of the 14th. The 

 spectra I obtained were of four kinds. 



"1st. Continuous spectra; in which the whole of the 

 colours of the spectrum, except violet, were visible. In even 

 the most uniform of these, however, I am inclined to think 

 that the yellow was strongly predominant. 



" 2nd. Those which gave a bright orange-yellow line of 

 light ; or only a faint continuous spectrum in addition to this 

 yellow line. Such spectra have been clearly described in the 

 Intellectual Observer, Number for October, 1866. 



" 3rd. Those consisting apparently of only a single line of 

 green light of nearly the same colour as that shown by Thallium. 

 Of this kind I only obtained the spectra of two meteors. In 

 one of these I thought I detected a trace of a very faint con- 

 tinuous spectrum, nearly obscured by the brilliancy of the 

 green line. 



"4th. The spectra of the trains. The light from green 

 trains appeared continuous in the prisms. Those which were 

 of a blue colour appeared as a line of lavender colour, with a 

 still fainter trace of a continuous spectrum. In some few in- 

 stances, no continuous spectrum could be detected." 



The occurrence of bright green light in some of the nuclei, 

 is a very remarkable result of these observations ; pointing, 



VOL. X. — NO. VI. H H 



